Neha Kapil's Story:

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Growing up in a South Asian family, being different wasn't something that was easily embraced. From a young age I knew with all my heart that I was meant to be an artist, but as I got older I found that pursuing something unconventional was a concept that my community had a hard time wrapping their heads around. When I was in high school I'd spend so much time perfecting my drawings and paintings that girls would say things like "wow I can't believe your parents let you do that". I always found statements like that really strange and a little disrespectful because it not only made me feel like my talent wasn't good enough on its own, but like my parents owned me and my life wasn't worth living without their permission. Because so many of my other Indian friends were constantly talking about their academic pursuits, I used to force myself to take AP math and science classes to fit in even though I hated those subjects with a burning passion. Lucky for me I was always very stubborn about doing what I wanted to do, but I'd be lying if I said the pressures of being like every other stereotypical South Asian didn't get to me. When i went to college, I decided to study both art and psychology because everybody kept putting it into my head that i needed to be cautious and have a backup plan in additional to my "hobby". In the art school, i was always the only brown person in all my classes, which made me feel very isolated and insecure about my future. Even to this day, there are many moments where i question the way I am and find myself asking "why can't i just be normal like everyone else?" The problem is our community can sometimes have a very narrow definition of success. Our parents generation were raised to believe that following a linear set of steps and staying on a set path was the best way to "make it" in life. They equate success with having money, which is why they traditionally push us to pursue high paying jobs in medicine, business, and engineering. They fear uncertainty, and although they mean well, they discourage us from non-traditional careers because they don't want to see us struggle in a way that's unfamiliar to them. Its been a year since I started my journey as a full time creative entrepreneur, and everyday I become more aware of the stigmas we still need to overcome. Nowadays when aunties and uncles talk to me I can tell they avoid saying too much to me because they don't understand what I do and don't know how to talk to me about my work. I don't work a 9 to 5 job but that doesn't mean I don't deserve your respect. A lot of people think that just because I don't work in an office building that I'm not as hardworking and dedicated as other people. They think being creative means i'm not as smart, that I have a lot of free time on my hands, and that my work involves making pretty things all day, which is the furthest thing from the truth. Sometimes I even get compared to my brother, who is planning on going to medical school, and I instantly notice a difference in the way people treat us when we're together. Whenever people talk about his future plans they act like getting into medical school is like winning the lottery, and when the conversation turns to me people awkwardly ask a lot of ignorant questions and choose not to engage in any intellectual discussions. What they don't see is that just because my career isn't built off a foundation of education from a text book and years of extra schooling, that doesn't mean I don't have important messages to talk about with my work and big plans to leave my mark in a positive way. I'm on a mission to not only build a company from scratch but to start a movement so that no one else has to ever feel like their talents aren't important. 

So you're not an doctor? You don't want to be an engineer? Not too keen on a life of academia? That's okay!! Money does not buy happiness, and you only have 1 shot at this life, so might as well spend it doing what makes you excited. At the end of the day, no one else can live your life for you- not your parents, not any aunties or uncles, not your friends. You're the only one who has full control of how you want your life to turn out, so don't ever let society make you feel like being different is not a blessing.